Foldable slip-tray for computing-machine stands.



H. E. LEWIS.

FOR COMPUTING MACHINE STANDS.

FOLDABLE SLIP TRAY APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. I9I5. LIIISGMQQ Patentd Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. E. LEWIS.

FOLDABLE SLIP TRAY FOR COMPUTING MACHINE STANDS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1915.

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Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@uventoz, Harry E- L @wl's,

HARRY E. LEWIS, 0F HARLAN, IOWA.

FOLDABLE SLIP-TRAY FOB COMPUTING-MACHINE STANDS.

messes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented iDecfid, third,

AppIication filed may 22, 1915. .Serial No. 29,898.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HARRY E. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harlan, in the countyot Shelby of lowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foldable Slip-Trays for Computing-Machine Stands, of which the following is a specification.

.lvly invention relates to the general class of oifice furniture, and particularly to hinged, swinging or toldable shelf and drawer attachments for stands, desks, or the like.

It is the object of my invention to pro-- vide a device particularly adapted for use with-stands toraccounting and computing machines, providing conveniently located trays for holding loose papers such as checks, deposit-slips and the like within easy reach of the machine operator, and so that piles of the slips or loose sheets will not be disarranged by jars or vibration such as result fromthe operation-o1 machines of the class mentioned.

A further object of my invention is to provide trays or holders, as above described, which may be adjusted to various angular positions with respect to the stand on which the device is mounted, which may be folded to provide a fiat-topped table or leaf such as is commonly used on such stands, and which may be moved, after toldving, to a position enabling the table or leaf to be turned down from a horizontal to a vertical position.

Further and more specific objects of my invention will appear hereinafter.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention, the same being in open position ready for use, Fig. 2 is an end view of the same in folded and lowered position, Fig. 3 is a view of the inner side when in folded and lowered position, Fig. i is a longitudinal vertical section of the device in open position, Fig. 5 is an end view of the device in use as a plain shelf, 6 is a bottom view illustrating the angular adjustments, 7 is a detail loi'igitudinal section of the angle-ad usting' latch and slide-bar, and 8 is a detail tran as section. on the plane of the line o. 'i

ln the drawings 1 have rated portions of a common and on ively-used v t; 1th which and State use, the stand comprising a frame formed principally of tubular metal members, and being adapted to support the computing machine at a suitable height. The parts 015 the stand indicated, in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, are the upper portions of two of the legs 1, an end cross-rod 2 connecting the legs, front and rear cross-bars 3 and l, and front and rear shelf-standards 5 and The usual position of the computing machine, relative to the parts mentioned, is indicated by dot- .ted lines A in Fig. 1.

In the ordinary construction of the stand, a simple swinging shelf or least is hinged to the upper ends of the standards 5 and d, be ing swingable from a vertical lowered posh tion to a horizontal raised position at which it forms a support for books, papers or the like, to which the operator of the comput ing machine may desire to refer.

in the construction illustrated herein, my improved device is substituted for the ordinary shelf or hinged leaf, and there is provided a shelf or leaf having a main bodyportion '2' with longitudinal side-pieces 8 which extend forward from the portion 7 and of which the inner edges are shouldered or rabbeted. To the front edge of the bodyportion 7 a leaf-portion 9 is connected therewith bYll'IlGEt-DS of hinges '10, the longitudinal edges of said leaf-portion being shouldered or rabbeted so as to fit between tie torwardly-extending parts of the side-pieces 8, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. From the closed or extended position shown in said figures the leaf 9 is-swingable about its hinge-axis to an open or inverted position as shown in Figs. 1 and i. ln the lower side of the shelf, near the front edge of the portion '7, 9 a metal cross-bar 11 is laid in a transverse groove therein, the ends or said bar extending out beneath the sidepieces 8 and being secured thereto "so as to securely hold said pieces against spreading apart. On. the lower sides of the side-pieces 8, adjoining the inner edges thereof, guide-strips 19. are secured thereto, said strips extending back to a cross'piece 13 which extends transversely across the lest on 105 lower secur d portion and nieces 8. i For co the rear end ct .c thereoi, being allel with the and are pivotally connected therewith by screws 15. The end of the hinge-bar near the front standard 5 is pivotally connected with one of the guide-strips 12 at a point slightly in front of the center of said strip, the connection being formed by a screw 16. At the other end of the hinge-bar a slide bar 17 is pivotally connected therewith by means of a pin or rivet 18. On the adjacent end of the cross-piece 13 a channel-plate 19 is pivotally connected with said cross-piece by means of a screw 20, as shown in Fig. 7, and the flanges of said channel-plate fit slidably around the edges of the bar 17. On the upper or back side of the channel-plate one end of a flat spring 21 is secured thereto, and the opposite end of said spring carries a latch-pin 22 which projects into one of a series of holes in the bar 17 to retain the channel-plate in adjusted relations to said bar. On the end of the spring adjacent to the latch-pin 22 there is secured a thumbpiece 23 which projects out rearwardly so that it may be grasped to raise the spring and disengage the latch-pin from the bar 17, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7, there being a suitable notch or recess in the lower side of the cross-piece 13, to permit the lifting of the spring. plate opposite the pivot-screw 20 is held slidably in proximity to the cross-piece 13 by means of an angle-plate 24 of which a vertical portion is secured to the cross-piece and a horizontal portion extends beneath the channel-plate, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7.

To the end of the cross-bar 11 opposite the hinge-bar 14 there is pivotally connected the upper end of a brace-rod 25, of which the lower end is reduced to form a pin 26 adapted to enter a hole in the cross-rod 2 of the stand, as shown in Fig: 5. Said bracerod serves to support the shelf in the horizontal or raised position shown, and, when disengaged from the cross-rod 2, permits the shelf to drop down to the lowered position thereof shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The hole in the rod.2 for the pin 26 is arranged so as to be in vertical alinement with the pivot-screw 16 when the shelf ism the horizontal raised position. I

Normally, or when the shelf is in the lowered position, the hinge-bar 14 extends paradjacent side-piece 8 of the shelf, and the latch-pin 22 is engaged with the slide-bar 17 so that said bar and the channel-plate 19 extend parallel with the end of the, shelf adjoining the cross-piece 13.

, After the shelf is raised to the horizontal position, however,

the latch-spring 21 may beraised as described, and the rearward end of the shelf swung outwardly to an angular position with respect to the hinge-bar and the stand, the outward swinging movement being made about a vertical axis extending through the pivot-screw 16 and the pin 26 The endof the channel-- longitudinally with each other,

at the lower end of the brace-rod 25. By engaging the latch-pin 22 with a suitable one of the holes in the slide-bar 17, the shelf is retained in any desired angular relation to the stand, characteristic angular positions thereof being shown in Fig. 1 and by dotted lines in Fig. 6. In moving to the angular positions the slide-bar 17 swings about the axis of the pin 18, and the channel-plate 19 swings about the axis of the screw 20, as will be apparent from Fig. 6.

The inner sides of the guide-strips 12 have channels or grooves 27 therein, and fitting slidablyin said'grooves are tongues28 which extend out from the upper edges of a sliding tray formed by side-pieces 29, an end-piece 30 and bottom 31. On the side-pieces 29 are secured stop-plates 32 which are adapted to engage similar stop-plates 33 secured on the guide-strips, to limit forward sliding movement of the tray. Rearward sliding movepieces 8 of the shelf as shown in Fig. 5, the

grooves in the inner sides of the guide-strips 34 and 35 are alined to form continuous ways or guides for laterally-projecting tongues on the sides of an uppertray which is formed by a transverse piece 36, inner and outer side-pieces 37 and 38, and an end-piece .39. he upper tray is slightly narrower than the lower, so that the side-pieces 37 and 38 may.fit within the side-pieces 29 of the lower tray, while the end-piece 39 fits into the open end of the lowertray. On the end-piece 39 is pivoted a. hook 40-Which may be engaged with a pin 41 on the front end of the bottom-piece 31 of the lower tray to'hold the two trays together in the folded position thereof assumed when the leaf 9 is extended, as in Fig.5. The upper tray has a longitudinally-extending partition 42 secured therein, and the lower tray has a transversely-extending partition 43. The ends of the partition 43 are cut away, and the central part thereof is notched or recessed, as shown, to provide longitudinal spaces for receiving the side-pieces and the partition 42 of the upper tray, when in folded position.

en the leaf-portion 9 is extended and the guide-strips 34 and 35 are thus alined both the upper and lower trays may slide longitudinally in their respective guides, the two trays forming in effect a single box or drawer of which the two parts are secured to each other by the hook 40 and by another conentirely by the guide-strips on the intense necting device described hereinafter. When the trays are pushed back into engagement with the cross-piece 13, and the hinged shelf is swung down to the lowered position thereof, the trays pass into the space between the standards 5 and 6, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. After the shelf is raised to the horizontal position, and either before or after the same is swung out to the angular position thereof, the trays may be pulled forwardly until the stops 32 and 33 are in contact, and at this position the front end of the lower tray is flush with the front ends of the guidestrips 12, while the upper tray is'suplported iinged leaf 9, the rear end of the upper tray being slightly in front of the joint between the leaf 9 and the shelf-portion 7. For convenience in pulling the trays forwardly, a hookplate 4:4 is secured on the bottom of the lower tray, as shown. After the trays are in the forward position, and the hook being disengaged from the pin 41, the leaf 9 may be raised and swung back upon its hinges until it lies in an inverted position on top of the shelf-portion 7 and during such movement it carries with it the upper tray, so that at the conclusion of'the movement the parts are in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 4%.

After the swinging back of the leaf 9 has been commenced, both the upper and lower trays are prevented from moving longitudinally of their respective guides, by means of a special connecting device, of which the construction and operation may be understood by reference to Figs. 1 and 4. On the front side of the end-piece 30 of the lower tray a metal plate issecured, and at the upper end of said plate are forwardly-extending lugs between which a small roller 46 is revolubly mounted. On the adjacent end of the piece 36 of the upper tray a resilient tongue 4:7 is pivotally connected therewlth, and said tongue extends down between the roller 46 and the plate 45, so as to be vertically slidable with respect thereto. The resilient hinged tongue A? forms a variable or yieldaole and sliding connection between the adjacent ends of the upper and lower trays, permitting the upper tray to be swung back to open position, and preventing any considerable movement of either tray longis tudinally of its guides, except when the trays are in folded position and both are moved simultaneously. At an intermediate position during the opening or unfolding movement, the tongue 4? is bent as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. l.

When the trays are folded, but in the forward position thereof at which the upper tray is carried upon the lower side of the leaf 9, raising of the leaf may be prevented he engagement of the hook ll) with the il, and the parts '7, 3 and 9 then form a plain flat-topped table or shelf which may be used to support books, or the like, the

same as the ordinary shelf or table hereinbefore referred to, but having the advantage of being swingable to various angular positions by releasing the latch-pin 22 and swinging the rear end of the shelf outward, as before described. When the sliding trays are pushed back from the forward position thereof, so that the tongues of the upper tray are engaged with both the front and rear guide-strips 35 and 34, said tongues prevent the leaf from swinging upwardly if the shelf is invhorizontal positio.=:-., or, if the shelf is in the lowered or vertical position thereof, the leaf is prevented from swinging outwardly, since the trays when pushed back to their extreme rearward position still overlap the joint between the guidestrips 34 and 35.

When the trays are in the open position shown in Figs. 1 and 4 they form suitable receptacles for holding loose papers such as checks, vouchers, drafts, deposit-slips, and the like, in convenient and accessible posi tion for the operator of the computing machine A. Piles of the slips are supported and held in the various compartments of the trays, so that they cannot be blown away and cannot be disarranged by jars or vibra tion resulting from the operations of the machine, such as the rapid return of the carriage. By the outward swinging of the shelf to the angular positions shown and described, the trays are so disposed that the operator of the machine may look directly into the same, and so that the slips may be easily reached and transferred from one compartment to another as they are successively referred to. By the arrangement of one tray above as well as behind the other, the contents of both are at substantially equal distance from the eye of the operator, and both may be observed with equal facility. The stepped arrangement of the trays may be considered as substantially the same as the arrangement of the banks of keys on the keyboard of the computing machine. The inner side-piece37 of the upper tray is made lower than the outer side, thereby not tending to obstruct the view of the operator; while the high outer side 38 forms an abutment against which the slips may be thrown when transferring them rapidly from the inner to the outer compartment of the tray. Obviously, in the use of the device it will usually be most convenient for the operator to first place the piles of slips to be referred to in the inner compartment of the upper tray, or in the front compartment of the lower tray, and to transfer the slips to the outer and rear compartments of the respective trays as the items on the successive slips are entered or posted by the use of the machine.

. the hinged leaf and other parts When the machine is not in use the traymechanism may be quickly folded and returned to the lowered position thereof, the operations required being merely the turning of the leaf 9 forward, engaglng the hook 40 with the pin 41, pushing the trays to the rearward position, releasing the latch-pin 22 and swinging the rear end of the shelf inwardly, then slightly lifting the shelf to disengage the brace-rod 25 from the rod 2, and finally lowering the shelf ,to the vertical position; while a reversal of these operations will place the trays in open or unfolded po sition ready for use.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat-' ent is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support, of a hinge-menabcr pivoted thereon and swingable on a horizontal axis, a shelf pivotally connected with said hinge-member, a slide-bar pivoted on said hinge-member, means for connecting the slide-bar and shelf in varying relations, and a brace-bar pivotally connected with the shelf at a point remote from the hingemember and adapted to engage the support at a point vertically alined with the pivotal connection between the shelf and hingemember to sustain the shelf in horizontal position and enable the swinging thereof about a vertical axis while in said horizontal position.

2. In a device of the class described, a shelf having a hinged leaf-portion, a lower tray supported on a relatively fixed portion of the shelf, an upper tray adapted to fit in an inverted position within the lower tray, and means for connecting the upper tray with the hinged leaf-portion whereby said tray may be turned over with said leaf-portion to a position displaced both vertically and horizontally from the lower tray.

3. In a device of the class described, a

shelf having a hinged leaf-portion, guides f carried'upon a relatively fixed body-portion of the shelf, a lower tray slidable longitudinally along'said guides, an upper tray adapted to fit within the lower tray, guides for said upper tray having parts carried by carried by the body-portionof the shelf, and means connecting the trays to cause substantially coincident longitudinal movement thereof along their respective guides, theupper tray being invertible by movement of the hinged leaf when said tray is supported by the parts of the guides on said leaf.

4. In a device of the class described, the

combination, with a swinging shelf and spaced supporting-standards with which the shelf is pivotally connected so as to be movable from a lower vertical position to a raised horizontal position, of trays carried by the shelf and slidable thereon parallel with the pivotal axis of the shelf about the standtion adjoining the space between the standards, and being swingable from the latter position into said space between the standards when the shelf is moved from horizontal to vertical position.

5. In a device of the class described, a shelf having at one end a hinged portion swingable to inverted position upon the main body of the shelf, longitudinal guides secured on the main body of the shelf, a lower tray slidable in said guides, other guides having portions secured on the main body and portions secured on the hinged invertible portion, an upper'tray slidable in the latter guides and adapted to fit within the lower tray, a resilient tongue pivotally connected with one end of the upper tray, and a part secured on an adjacent portion of the lower tray and connecting slidably with said resilient tongue.

,6. In a device of the class described, a shelf having a hinged invertible. leaf-portion, a lower tray, means for connecting the same with the shelf, an upper tray adapted to fit within the lower tray, means for connecting the upper tray with the invertible leaf-portion, a support for the shelf, means pivotally connectingthe shelf and support whereby the shelf may be moved about a vertical axis, and means for-retaining the shelf in various angular relations to the support.

7. In a device of the class described, a support, ahinge-member pivoted thereon and swingab'le on a vhorizontalaxis, a "shelf pivoted on said hinge-member, means'for supporting said shelf in a horizontal plane, means for-retaining the-shelf While in the horizontal plane in various angular relations to the hinge-member, the shelf having ahinged invertible portion, with the shelf, and a second tray adapted to be moved with the hinged invertible portion from a position within the first tray to a position at, which it is'displaced both vertically and longitudinally therefrom.

8. In a device of the class described, a

shelf having a main body and a portion a tray connected portion, the tray at the latter position being swingable With the hinged portion.

9. In a device of the class described, a shelf having a main body and a portion hinged thereto, guide-strips having parts secured von the main body, and other'parts secured on said hinged portion, said parts of the strips being longitudinally alined when the hinged portion is in one position, a

10 tray having tongues slidable along said guide-strips, said tongues atone position of engaging only the hinged portion, the tray 15 at the latter position being swingable with the hinged portion, a second tray slidably connected with the main body only, and means connecting the trays to secure them against dis-simultaneous sliding movement. 20

HARRY E. LEWIS. 

